Australian government to censor the Internet by 2011

ZDNet Australia reports that the federal government has announced plans to amend the Broadcasting Services Act, which will require all ISPs to block unapproved content on overseas servers. The legislation will be introduced around mid-2010 and the filtering technology will roll out over a one-year period thereafter.

Stephen Conroy, Minister for Communications, today released a new discussion paper requesting stakeholder feedback on how the "Refused Classification" (RC) list should be overseen, and by which agency. The government has already determined how it will compile the RC list, though, mentioning a "public complaints mechanism", but has not elaborated.

ZDNet notes that the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is a likely candidate for overseeing the new RC list, as it already manages a list of locally hosted illegal content. Appointed or not, Conroy reportedly said the agency would receive additional funds to boost the security of the RC content list.